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Michael Phelps’s Loss: Blame the Suits?

Michael Phelps was bound to lose a swimming race eventually. But something’s really wrong when a 14-time Olympic gold medalist is routed in the 200-meter freestyle at the world championships Tuesday in Rome by someone who had never won an Olympic medal. The problem doesn’t end with Phelps’s loss—his first since 2005. His world-record time was smashed by .96 seconds by German Paul Biedermann, who finished in 1 minute 42 seconds. Since last year, some 150 records have been set, including at least 15 in the first three days in Rome.

Associated Press

Michael Phelps removes his silver medal after finishing second in the Men’s 200m freestyle, at yesterday’s FINA Swimming World Championships in Rome.

Blame the high-tech swimsuits, which FINA, swimming’s governing body, will ban starting next year. After that, all suits will be made of textiles. Biedermann, racing in a 100% polyurethane Arena X-Glide body suit, easily outraced Phelps, who competed in a Speedo LZR suit made of woven elastane-nylon and polyurethane. So expect more records over the rest of the championships, but just don’t take them too seriously. Phelps’s coach, Bob Bowman, will push him to skip all races until the suit fiasco ends.

“FINA’s decision to ban the new suits after the competition instead of before is nonsensical,” Sally Jenkins thunders in the Washington Post. “The X-Glide has plainly elevated middle-of-the-pack swimmers into Aquaman superheroes, none more so than Biedermann, who had never won an Olympic or world championship medal before and was ranked ninth in the 200 free last year.”

At Swimnetwork, Canadian Olympian Casey Barrett writes, “Is it possible that a company that held a complete monopoly over the fastest suits in the world has squandered it so completely in 11 months? Did their NASA scientists move on to more noble pursuits? Did their cutting-edge developers get laid off amid the recession? How exactly did the LZR go from the fastest piece of fabric ever dipped in water to a racing liability in less than a year?”

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Brett Favre, after months of keeping the Minnesota Vikings in limbo, will stay retired, according to coach Brad Childress. The 39-year-old quarterback considered joining the Vikes this season, perhaps giving a big boost to their playoff hopes. But he also wanted to show the Green Bay Packers, where he spent all but two of his 18 seasons, that he could still deliver wins.

The Favre distraction hasn’t been good for the Vikings. “Favre should be ashamed of himself for toying with an entire organization,” Jim Souhan writes in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. “The Vikings should be ashamed of themselves for investing hope and faith in the most self-absorbed great quarterback in NFL history. Favre was the Vikings’ human lottery ticket, and the Vikings today feel like anyone who ever wasted their money on a long shot. The initial rush of adrenaline has been replaced by nausea and regret.”

“What a strange and unexpected trip Favre has inspired these past 15 months or so, but this latest (dare we say last?) turnabout might just take the cake,” Sports Illustrated’s Don Banks writes. “Last year’s one-season tenure with the Jets was one thing. But the Favre-to-the-Vikings story was at a whole new level. This was Minnesota. This was potential betrayal to all things Packers. This was way beyond a mere border war between rivals.”

ESPN’s John Clayton says Favre faced long odds being a success in Minnesota. And in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Michael Hunt writes Favre keeps his body intact by not returning to the football field and risking serious injury.

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Tuesday’s Fix included a link about the financial struggles facing women’s sports. But one woman in this week’s West Classic in Stanford, Calif., can give tennis a boost: Maria Sharapova. The 22-year-old Russian hasn’t won a tournament in more than 15 months and is ranked only 62nd, but has pronounced herself fully recovered from shoulder surgery and ready to compete. “If her recent European campaign offered hope that her biggest problems were behind her — she reached the quarterfinals at Warsaw and Roland Garros on clay, the semifinals at Edgbaston and second round at Wimbledon on grass — the next seven weeks on American hard courts could go a long way towards confirming whether she can recapture her former glories,” the Independent’s Paul Newman writes.

At Yahoo Sports, Josh Peter finds that Pete Sampras is still trying to find his way in retirement.

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Until baseball’s nonwaiver trade deadline comes on Friday, there’s bound to be lots of talk about deals involving Toronto pitching ace Roy Halladay. A deal might be worth it for teams with a legitimate shot at a World Series title. Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci says acquiring Halladay would make the Philadelphia Phillies Series contenders for the next two years. The Toronto Star’s Dave Perkins wonders how not trading Halladay affects the team. In the Globe and Mail, Stephen Brunt notes how the collapsed world economy and the death of Ted Rogers has affected the Jays.

* * *

Mixed Martial Arts has a growing fan base, but not everyone likes the sport that some call “human cockfighting.” In the Boston Globe, Peter Funt asks: What changed in so little time to move how “this brutal activity troublingly closer to the mainstream?”

* * *

Freestyle motocross is one of the biggest events of the X Games, which begin Thursday. But six months ago, top rider Jeremy Lusk died in a horrific crash at an event in Costa Rica. In the Los Angeles Times, Pete Thomas looks at how Lusk’s death has affected the sport and its athletes.

Found a good column from the world of sports? Don’t keep it to yourself — write to us at dailyfix@wsj.com and we’ll consider your find for inclusion in the Daily Fix. You can email Garey at ris84rap@gmail.com.

Comments (5 of 10)

.- Phelps was 5th in 200 butterfly in Sydney, but the next year at 2001 FINA WC LC he broke the world record for the same event. What happened with Biedermann in 200 freestyle?
2.- LZR was subject of complains about fairness. But Phelps used it in 2008. FINA agreed to talk with speedo and endorsed the suit. It was because speedo is﻿ a sponsor?
At the end is the same!, Phelps lost, and?

didn't Phelps race in Beijing in long shorts, or leggings? Sure the material might have been hi-tech, but it only covered half his body, while others swam in full-body suits. Can't attribute his massive medal haul to some synthetic.

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